Chapter 2: Lorelai

Chapter 2:     Lorelai

 

All these years looking for her and on the one week I go to her school, I find her in hospital. When I first met Chloe I thought I was looking at my younger self, but I didn’t think anything of it! Only until she just mentioned my name did I realise that Chloe could be my daughter. I look at Chloe. She doesn’t appear to be shocked.

“Are you not shocked?” I ask.

“No”

“Why?”

“To be honest, I guessed when I first saw you”

“How?”

“Well we look alike, we like the same things, we have the same surnames and your still here” Well that’s a fair enough point.

“Are you angry at me?”

“No” How can she not be angry? I mean I know I didn’t give her away but surely she must have thought I did? “Should I?”

“No, it’s just because you probably thought I’d given you away”

“Well you must have had a reason”

“I didn’t actually give you away” I say.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I didn’t give you away. Your father did”

“Why?” She asks
“Because when I got pregnant I was 15 and he was 16. I tried to hide it from my parents and Theo, your father. But obviously you can’t hide the fact that your pregnant for long can you?”

“Not really”

“Anyway my mother figured it out a week after I did. Clearly she had to tell my father, Theo and his parents. My parents, even though they weren’t happy about it, wanted me to keep. Theo and his parents on the other hand wanted me to get rid of you”

“Why?” She asks.

“Well he was 16 and they wanted him to do well and they thought that if I kept you it would mean that he wouldn’t do well”

“Well that’s selfish”

“Exactly” I say. “When you were born your father pretended to like you but I didn’t trust him. I didn’t let him anywhere near you. Unfortunately he got to you. I went to get drinks and left him in the living room, you were upstairs sleeping. As soon as I was out of the room he must have legged it upstairs. I walked into the lounge and realised he wasn’t there. When I went upstairs you weren’t there and the balcony doors were open.”

“So did he jump out the window?”

“No. He must have climbed down the tree at the side of the balcony”

“Didn’t you phone the police?” she asks

“Yep”

“What did they do?”

“Nothing they said they couldn’t do anything”

“Moron’s”

“Yep”

“So did you try to find me?”

“Yes, I’ve been searching for you ever since you went missing”

“Did your parents not help you?”

“No. They didn’t even care, that’s why I moved out as soon as I could”

I never did get on with my parents. Especially my mother. She never let me do what I wanted to do and she was always watching me. I was glad when I left them. I’ve never been to see them ever since. Why should I anyway? They haven’t tried to contact me.

“And what happened to Theo?”

“He disappeared. I only found out the other day that he’s a general in the military”

“He’s a moron as well” Chloe says yawning. She looks really tired now. It’s been an hour since she woke up.

“Why don’t I go and get a coffee and you get some sleep?”

“Ok” She must be really tired because I think she fell asleep before I even stood up. I grab my bag and walk out the room closing the door quietly behind me. There is no way I’m going to be able to find a decent cup of coffee in here. I might as well just go and get some fresh air. I make my way out of the hospital and sit down on the bench near the doors. After about 5 minutes someone sits next to me. “How did you know I was here?” I ask. I know who it is.

“Babette” Luke says.

“How did she know?”

“Because Miss patty told her” he says

“How did she know?”

“Apparently she has a friend at the school you were visiting”

“I’m sure it because her phone lines are connected to everyone else’s” I say.

“I thought that as well”

He passes me a cup of coffee.

“I thought you might need some coffee so I brought you some”

“Thanks”

“So who’s ended up in hospital that’s making you stay here?”

“My daughter” The face he makes is hilarious.

“You have a daughter?”

“Yep”

“How do you know its her?”

“Because she looks like me and her name is the same as my daughters”

“Wow” he says.

“I know”

“So is she Theo’s daughter?”

“Yeah” Luke is the only one I’ve ever trusted with my secret. We sit in silence for 10 minutes until a nurse came rushing out. “Miss Everdeen?” She asks. I already know something’s wrong. “Miss Stryder’s heart has stopped”

“What!?”